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Starlink Plans 20 India Gateways as Spectrum Terms Await Decision

Provisional clearance permits security trials under strict data‑localisation rules pending pricing and final allocation.

Overview

  • Starlink is preparing roughly 20 earth stations across Noida, Chennai and Navi Mumbai, with three sites under construction and spectrum tests reported from Navi Mumbai terminals.
  • Provisional spectrum clearance granted on August 12 allows ground buildout and security compliance tests, while the Department of Telecommunications and TRAI continue to deliberate spectrum pricing.
  • The company holds a GMPCS/unified licence and a five‑year IN‑SPACe authorisation to operate its Gen1 LEO constellation over India.
  • Government security conditions require that Indian user traffic be routed and stored domestically with no copying, mirroring or routing through gateways outside the country.
  • Rollout preparations include Aadhaar‑based KYC via UIDAI and discussions with Indian telcos and data‑centre operators, with reported consumer terms around Rs 33,000 upfront, about Rs 3,000 monthly, a cap of roughly 2 million connections and an initial need for at least 50,000 imported user terminals.